Refinishing black walnut stock

[ryanrichmond]

I just picked up a Stoeger Coach Gun with the nickel finish and the black walnut stock but, as you can see in the photo, the stock needs some refinishing. The original owner had this gun sliding around in the back of his pickup truck banging around on his tool box.
Thing is, I was hoping to strip it and refinish it in a warm natural finish as God intended for gun stocks.

I am a novice woodworker and, as I have zero experience refinishing gun stocks, I'd like some advice on how to go about stripping and refinishing this stock. I know that some chemicals typically used for stripping finishes can destroy the natural glues within some woods and basically make my stock a soft piece of junk so if anyone has any advice on how to actually go about doing this properly, I would greatly appreciate the help. Thank you

 

[Reloadron]

Since a stock is a stock this may fare better in the gun smithing sections, however, for now looking at the picture I can't tell what the existing finish actually is?

Ron

 

[hoghunting]

Looks like your stock is painted black, also betting the stock is just a hardwood like birch as a walnut stock would make that shotgun more expensive to manufacture.

 

[Liberty1776]

If you must do it, use something made for gunstocks, or furniture. I've always used Formby's and been happy. this -

I know that some chemicals typically used for stripping finishes can destroy the natural glues within some woods and basically make my stock a soft piece of junk

is very, very unlikely

 

[jmr40]

I'm betting it isn't walnut either. It is painted for a reason. I'd refinish with a can of Krylon in a color I liked, probably black.

 

[DonJ441]

If it is a walnut underneath a paint, you will most likely need to strip it with a Fornby's type stripper in order to get any paint out of the grain of the wood. After it is stripped, lightly sand it. What I like to do with walnut is put a first coat of a sealer on...I use General Finishes "Seal-a-Cell", which is basically a shelac. I then steel wool the surface with 0000 steel wool to get the raised grain smooth. Then, a wipe on poly, probably a satin finish would give you a nice warm look. Hope this helps.

 

[ryanrichmond]

I gave up on the Stoeger...wasn't worth it to me so I sold it.

However, I did pick up this Stevens 311H with 30" barrels that looked rough when I got it. The finish on the stock looked awful. It was fading and falling apart in a lot of little places. I decided it needed a refinish. It was a plain jane boring brown that needed something.

So I got to work...

I used Klean-Strip Premium Stripper (Spray) to remove the bulk of the finish. You spray it on, wait 15 minutes and then scrape off the goop with a plastic putty knife. This stuff is so caustic, it ate 2 putty knives and burned off the rubber gloves I was wearing. I switched to thick leather gloves after the first coat.



After 2 coats of Klean-Strip and a lot of scraping, I rinsed the wood with paint thinner to neutralize the stripper. At that point, I could handle it without gloves so I started sanding.



After I sanded the finish off, I was left with a real pretty blonde color which I thought would look good as the final product so I decided I would just clear coat over that and be done with it...but something was still missing so I started masking off the checker pattern on both pieces



I had some black spray paint lying around so I shot a couple quick coats over the checker board and voila!



Then I shot 2 coats of gloss clear coat on both pieces and here here it is all put back together. Everything cost me about $25 and, if you ask me, it looks a million times better than what I started with

 

[Reloadron]

Came out real nice and I am an oil freak type myself.

Ron

 

[KTXdm9]

I really like what you did with the checkering. Stands out nicely against the light colored wood. How hard was it to remove the goo produced from the stripper?

 

[Liberty1776]

That is really sharp! If the factory had come out with a look like that, they'd call it a special edition and charge extra...

 

[ryanrichmond]

I really like what you did with the checkering. Stands out nicely against the light colored wood. How hard was it to remove the goo produced from the stripper?

Thanks. It's actually not very hard at all to remove the goopy stuff. I used a plastic putty knife and an old rag...or 7. Once you're done scraping the crap off, you just wipe the stock down with a rag. At that point, I doused the stock in paint thinner and then wiped it off again with another rag. Then I got to sanding.

Thanks for the kind words, guys. I'm pretty proud of the way it turned out. My wife said she wants one now. ha!

 

[Al Thompson]

I am a novice woodworker and, as I have zero experience refinishing gun stocks.

You are a quick study for a "novice".

 

[Certaindeaf]

.This stuff is so caustic, it ate 2 putty knives and burned off the rubber gloves I was wearing. I switched to thick leather gloves after the first coat..

You were using the wrong gloves. They make chemical resistant gloves for all kinds of different chemicals. I've got a set that cost me around $15 that I've used professionally for the last ten years that are still perfect.

 

[ryanrichmond]

You are a quick study for a "novice".

Thanks. I've had very little experience working with wood...more than some...a lot less than others. Thanks

You were using the wrong gloves. They make chemical resistant gloves for all kinds of different chemicals. I've got a set that cost me around $15 that I've used professionally for the last ten years that are still perfect.

Meh. I rarely (read: never) need these types of gloves. I knew they weren't the right kind which is why I doubled up on them. The leather ones lasted long enough to finish the job...and they were free.